A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson from his essay on Nature reflects some feelings that resonate with me. “It is certain that the power to produce this delight (of being in the natural world) does not reside in nature, but in man, or in harmony of both. It is necessary to use these pleasures with great temperance. For nature is not always tricked in holiday attire.”

The influence of my experience as a geologist was to value close observation of my environment and be sensitive to differences in my surroundings, spend time outdoors and to gain an appreciation of processes and natural history. The influence of my background in art also reinforced observation as well as feelings generated by the things I see.

The natural world and at times art have the potential to create moments of transcendence. I have come to believe it is the harmony of and the joyous surprise found there be it in the woods, on the plains or my neighborhood that triggers a concept for artwork. I may be reflect on or mull ideas about for some time before deciding on how best to represent them and they still may change even while painting them.

A tiny pond in a sea of grass, a single house unmoored in a field of cotton, a pattern of blackbirds in dried leaves, an unfurling fern or a lone tree surrounded by the prairie all leave an impression on me and have become fertile material for a painting.